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On August 14th, I wrote an article titled Finding a way to 88 wins, which at the time was one win better than FanGraphs projected the AL West Champion Astros. Since that day, the Rangers have reeled off 14 wins in 19 games, and picked up three games on Houston in the loss column.

On 8/14, Texas had 49 games remaining, and needed a 32-17 (.653) finish to satisfy the 88-win plateau. As of today, 88 wins requires a more manageable 18-12 (.600) record.

More practically speaking, with such a rush of division games over the last month (27 of its last 30), this race is still largely within Texas's control. With seven apiece against the Angels and Astros, you can pretty much chalk that up as the division title right there. Finding a way to 88 wins might be what it takes to reach that pinnacle, but it's more important that the Rangers are in position -- and so quickly -- to take down the Astros. Texas is no longer making up games in the loss column; they are fully dug in. Right there.